How Local Officials Respond to a Hurricane

With the East Coast’s first real brush with a hurricane potentially around the corner, it’s probably a good time to talk about what happens during a storm.

The Berkeley County Emergency Operation Center is partially manned as soon as a storm gets a name, says Tom Smith, the county’s emergency preparedness director.

A regional response is coordinated with Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown, depending on the threat level for each community. This cooperation has been built over the years since a relatively wild west approach to Hugo.

“When Hugo hit, it was everybody for themselves,” said Berkeley County spokesman Don Boling. That improved communication includes how emergency officials explain the seriousness to residents in the path of the storm. “Everyone is more respectful of the hazards,” Boling said.

One important hazard often overlooked by residents is post storm flooding. Smith noted a slow-moving storm with winds under 100 mph could be much worse than a violent fast-moving storm due to the flooding potential. “A bridge may look great, but the roadbed on either end could be in trouble,” Smith said.

There’s also the unpredictable nature of these storms. “I’d hate to think there are people who think that a hurricane is going to follow that particular line or that they underestimated the power of the storm’s devastation,” Smith said.

See evacuation routes here. Berkeley County has two mandatory evacuation levels.

• If a storm is expected to be a Category 1, with winds at least 74 mph, the evacuation area includes: All residents and tourists south of Clements Ferry Road and south of Halfway Creek Road to Guerins Bridge Road, and those living along the Cooper River south of Hagan Plantation between one mile east of the Cooper River and one mile west of the Back River; those residents living in low-lying areas along the Goose Creek Reservoir; and all manufactured housing residents.
• If a storm is expected to be a Category 4, add the area between Honey Hill and Wambaw Creek and low-lying areas along the Santee River south of Jamestown.

EOC Wired for Success

In the past two years, the Emergency Operations Center has replaced its hardware for a 21st century response to threats.

Old-school tools like whiteboards for shelter lists and [gasp] physical maps are largely decoration these days. The core of the EOC is Smartboard technology to coordinate a disaster response and 16 web-based stations installed with the help of federal stimulus dollars.

The network is set up to be accessed remotely so that EOC staff can relocate quickly and still operate from any computer with a network connection. “As long as the system is up, we’ve got real-time communication with the state,” says Nick Marino with the Berkeley County Emergency Preparedness Department.

The EOC’s have operating conditions that start at 5 and go down to 1, depending on the proximity of the storm. Here’s a quick rundown, per the state’s hurricane plan:

• OPCON 5: Normal day-to-day operations. Storms are tracked and monitored.
• OPCON 4: Key personnel are notified of the storm threat, including local law enforcement and county and municipal officials. Officials are plotting out potential evacuation times and shelter plans are reviewed.
• OPCON 3: At this point, the storm “poses a significant threat to South Carolina.” Key support agencies will move into the Emergency Operation Center. Details are hashed out regarding voluntary and mandatory evacuations.
• OPCON 2: The Emergency Operations Center is fully operational. Evacuations are imminent. Law enforcement is put in place to direct traffic. Shelters prepare to open.
• OPCON 1: Evacuation is ordered. EOC will remain at OPCON 1 through landfall and the initial response.